ARTICLES ABOUT SINGAPORE BY DATE - PAGE 3

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Olympic Council of Asia must move fast to find a replacement city to host the 2019 Asian Games, International Olympic Committee Vice President Ng Ser Miang told Reuters on Friday, but ruled out his suitable Singapore homeland as an option. Vietnam's government announced their surprise decision on Thursday to quit as hosts of the event in their capital Hanoi, citing a lack of preparedness and concerns that holding the multi-sport event for the first time would not prove financially viable.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Luxury property developers in Singapore are facing their worst sales outlook in six years as a raft of government measures to cool one of the world's most expensive real estate markets bite. Sales of private homes, which account for just under one-fifth of the total property market, fell to their lowest in more than four years in January to March, official data showed this week. If the decline continues at the same pace for the rest of this year, analysts expect sales to halve from the 15,000 units sold in 2013.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA) has been unveiled as the new title sponsor of the city-state's Formula One race in September as the carrier bids to promote its brand to motor racing's global television audience. The September 19-21 race will see the carrier's brand prominently displayed around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, although financial terms of the deal announced in a statement on Tuesday were not disclosed. "We are thrilled to be taking up the title sponsorship of one of the most exciting races on the F1 calendar, and we are especially pleased to be doing so in the lead-up to Singapore's 50th birthday next year," Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Shares of CapitaMalls Asia surged as much as 22 percent after Southeast Asia's biggest property developer CapitaLand Ltd offered to buy out minority shareholders in the Singapore-listed shopping mall operator. CapitaMalls shares hit as high as S$2.21, the highest in about 14 months. Nearly 99 million shares were traded, almost 10 times its average full-day volume over the past 30 days. CapitaLand shares jumped 5.1 percent. CapitaLand said on Monday it had offered S$2.22 per share for CapitaMalls, in which it already owns 65 percent.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (OCBC) has offered to pay almost $5 billion for one of Hong Kong's last remaining family-owned banks, in a deal that would give the Singapore lender a much sought-after gateway to the Greater China region. The deal to buy Wing Hang Bank Ltd was preceded by months of negotiations, with the deadline for an agreement extended not once, but twice. OCBC formally made the offer to purchase the Hong Kong-based lender after reaching a deal with major shareholders including the bank's founding family.

HONG KONG -- Yuni Hadi, producer of Anthony Chen's breakout film "Ilo Ilo" has been set as festival director of the Singapore International Film Festival ( SGIFF ), which is being revived this December. The latest, 25th iteration of the festival, is intended to put the focus clearly on South East Asia . The SGIFF will run Dec. 4-14, 2014, as part of the 'Singapore Media Festival,' the new umbrella name for the existing events cluster which also combines the Asian Television Forum & Market, ScreenSingapore and Asian Television Awards.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd has placed an order for 37 Airbus A320neo aircraft valued at $3.8 billion at list prices, taking delivery of the planes from 2018 to 2025, the carrier said in a statement on Monday. Tiger said an existing order for nine Airbus A320 aircraft, part of a larger order agreed in 2007, will now be cancelled. These aircraft were originally scheduled for delivery in 2014 and 2015. The long-term fleet renewal and expansion comes as Tiger, which is about 40 percent-owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd , takes steps to try to prevent a third straight year of losses.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Singapore's DBS Group Holdings has agreed to buy Societe Generale's (SocGen) Asian private bank for about $250 million, with an announcement expected as early as Monday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The deal with the French bank would help DBS - Southeast Asia's biggest lender - to boost its private banking assets by almost a third to about $60 billion. It would be the third major deal in Asia's competitive private banking landscape since the global financial crisis, with smaller players retreating as they struggle to generate enough revenue to support expensive bankers and rising regulatory costs.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Malaysia is turning into the darling of Chinese developers as mainland investors turn their backs on market restrictions in Hong Kong and Singapore and bet billions on cheaper housing and higher returns in the Southeast Asian country. State-backed Greenland Group announced this month a $3.3 billion deal in two residential and hotel projects in Malaysia, joining smaller peers Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd , Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd and Agile Property Holdings Ltd , which have invested a combined $2.7 billion in Malaysia in the past two years.